Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1/a2 as being anticipated by Ito et al. (US 2008/0269560).
A connector for an auxiliary water feed mouthpiece, the connector being for use in connecting a tube unit installed in a water feed device to an auxiliary water feed mouthpiece of an endoscope, the auxiliary water feed mouthpiece having a flange portion on an outer peripheral surface of the auxiliary water feed mouthpiece (intended use and/or functional language that does not include any structural limitations directed to the claimed connector),
the connector comprising
a connector main body (33b), which is made of a synthetic resin (Paragraph 0051), and has a cylindrical shape (see Figs. 1-2 and Paragraph 0051 describing the connector as tubular),
wherein the connector main body is to be connected to the auxiliary water feed mouthpiece of the endoscope on one end side in a center axis direction of the connector main body (functional language; see Figs. 1 and 2 showing 33b connected to the endoscope), and
wherein, when the connector main body is connected to the auxiliary water feed mouthpiece of the endoscope, an end surface of the connector main body on the one end side in the center axis direction of the connector main body is held in a state of being in pressure-contact with an end surface of the flange portion (functional language; the flange is not part of the connector; as seen in Figs. 1-2, the connector attaches to the endoscope such that it is in pressure contact with the endoscope).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-4 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The primary reason the claims are allowable over the prior art is that the prior art fails to disclose or render obvious the claimed spaces and relative sizing of those spaces as set forth in Claim 2. The Examiner notes that claim 1 is broad in its scope as the only structural element is the connector main body. Everything else is functional. Claim 2 adds specific structure to that main body. This is not to say that the functional language has no weight, rather, that the functional language in claim 1 does not impart such structure to overcome the prior art. Claim 2 does impart that structure so that when combined with the functional language, the claim overcomes the prior art.
Claims 3-4 depend from claim 2 and are allowable based on their dependency.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TIMOTHY JAY NEAL whose telephone number is (313)446-4878. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30.
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/TIMOTHY J NEAL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3795
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